Naturelich

Germany has voted. Stalemate draw. The country is intolerably resistant against reforms. F*** us! Now, the country has fallen into chaotic discussions. Normally, we only see this on soap opera TV: Who falls in love with whom?
Merkel and Schröder? Maybe not. Angie and Müntefering? Regicide. Schröder and Westerwelle. Definitely no. Stoplight coalition. Not an option for Westerwelle who got at least half the votes from Christian-Democrats. My projection (but not my favorite) is the Jamaica coalitiion.

I know it's politically dangerous to have your coming out early, so I am playing high risk here. But all other options except a great coalition are politically impossible, in my opinion. What's worse: I cannot believe that a coalition between CDU and SPD will be beneficial for the country.

Stillstand.

I believe the Green party, FDP and CDU/CSU will have to digest this and need to come up with a solution. Current Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer - the grey eminence of the Green party - is currently making jokes about this option and has already announced to be not available for this coalition. And actually that's great news, because the Liberal Democrats have a traditional claim for his current post. Fischer is very respected as Foreign Minister - but if that's what it takes to generate something good from this election - so be it!

This solves many problems:

• The Green party can ensure that nuclear power plants will be turned off in the next 30 years to come


• The CDU will get rid of media chancellor Schröder, who has been very difficult to beat. Can anyone spot a decent successor?


• The FDP gets to govern with the CDU and gets some strategic minister posts (as they are the bigger partner, the Foreign minister post falls to them)


• Stoiber can stay in Bavaria and continue to play games against Merkel


• Jamaica coalition precedence exists in Bad Dürkheim

I am certain there are more pros and there are certainly even more cons. But anything is better than Angie's and Schrödie's party together. Naturelich a NO!

Posted by Naturelich at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beck's words. From a famous song. Not so true for politicians. Angie loses, Schröder loses. The King is dead. Long live the KingQueen?

Posted by Naturelich at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Inspired by recent events in the Gulf of TexaMexico here is a very interesting link to a climate blog RealClimate blog with a particularly interesting article about the connection between Hurricanes and Global warming.

Posted by Naturelich at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Currently Angie and Schrödi are discussing the future of Germany on TV. The biggest moment was just minutes ago. Basically what Angie just said was: "Wir haben in Europa die rote Laterne". In German, the idiom "die rote Laterne" (word-by-word translation = " the red lantern") refers to the last waggon in a train. What she referred to was Germany being the last in Europe when it comes to economic growth. However, the term "rote Laterne" also has a second meaning. And that caused Chancellor Schröder to break into laughter. And me too. His party, the Social Democratic Party has the color red. Therefore, Angie may also have reffered to him. It's so cool. Angie is soooo funny, she even makes her political opponent laugh in front of millions on the TV.

Posted by Naturelich at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's not easy to return to regular blog business after the disaster caused by hurricane Katrina. It is a great tragedy and my sympathies go to all the people in New Orleans and the other cities of Louisiana, Alabama and Missouri. I visited New Orleans just recently. Having to see the inflicted destruction and the current chaos, now, is really shocking. We are all aware that the world has changed again. Not only for the victims who have lost their homes and families. It will take months if not years to rebuild the homes and industries.

Let's hope man-made damage to nature and environment is not punished more heavily than this. Oh, and, if people (and government) in the U.S. will finally see how important Kyoto Protocol is, maybe some good can come from this.

Posted by Naturelich at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Katrina, one of the biggest hurricanes ever recorded, is arriving in New Orleans. Naturelich visited this great city earlier this year and enjoyed a handgrenade. I am shocked at the extend of this apocalyptic catastrophy. Let's hope everyone makes it allright. Here are some reactons from the blogosphere:

• New Orleans Metroblogging
• Looka!
• Hurricane Harbor
• Florida Masochist
• Cool Change
• Eye of the Storm
• Hog On Ice
• Strange Women Lying in Ponds
• Brendan Loy

Today, German president Köhler announced he would dissolve the parliament. New elections are now scheduled for September. In a great new mini-series "What did you do during a historic event?" you get a first, hands-on view of what Naturelich was doing:

My weekly Badminton match had just finished. It was an awful game. I did not hit a thing right and was not in the mood to get exhausted to much. My opponent and I both decided to have a monster pizza. Because after you are physically active you need to eat a lot. We don't want to loose weight here! We therefore sat down with an Apfelschorle and a nice pizza. Above the pool and fußball-tables they had a TV set running. We therefore saw Köhler's announcement but did not really hear a thing. And stupid TV did not even have subtitles for the hearing impaired (e.g. a tabloid like: Köhler says YEEEEESSSS).

So it was not before 21:00 hrs that I go the real story. The election is up and if things go the way everyone expects Germany will get the first female chancellor in history.

To commemorate this, the Rolling Stones have already written a song a couple of years ago which puts my feelings in a nutshell :-) ...

Continue reading "Eating pizza during Köhler announcement" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

The Live8 concert in Berlin has started. Die Toten Hosen started off. In Germany, the event is broadcast by Phoenix.

Make your voice heard by clicking here.

Posted by Naturelich at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The German Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as Pope and has taken the name Benedikt XVI.

Viva il Papa!

Posted by Naturelich at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We pray for our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. who passed away today. His moral firmness, his courage, his pleads for forgiveness and reconciliation stand as a shining example for man.
He leaves a world of war and hunger.
Today is not the last day where his virtues challenge mankind. In a time where violent force, death and suffering reach our living rooms each evening, I bow humbly before his strength, determination and foresightedness.

Our hearts are with you, Papa. You are deeply deeply missed.

Posted by Naturelich at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)